Feds demand answers from Ann Arbor Public Schools on transgender student policies
The U.S. Department of Education is demanding answers from Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan over policies regarding transgender students.
This particular Title IX complaint, made public on Monday, says the education department has taken "significant action" against Ann Arbor Public Schools and, separately, a Maryland school, "for hiding sensitive information about children's health and wellbeing from their own parents, in violation of parental rights protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act."
The matter under question is a policy that the education department says requires school employees "to hide a child's 'transgender status' from his or her parents." The education department says this decision violates FERPA.
Federal officials gave Ann Arbor until Aug. 10 to explain why the education and justice departments "should not move forward with enforcement."
On a related detail, the education department said Ann Arbor has a policy that directs records related to a student's gender identity to be kept in a separate filing system, and that matter also needs to be justified or the district will be "subjected to imminent enforcement action."
"As a mother and a grandmother, it is unconscionable that any school district would hide the most sensitive information about children in their care from their own parents. This is not only an affront to basic moral principles, but also to parents' rights under federal law," U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.
"Today, ED and DOJ are putting districts on notice that we will use every tool available to hold them to account for this egregious behavior. Under the Trump Administration, ED and DOJ are working together to vigorously uphold parents' federal protections, and we will work to ensure that no parent is ever kept in the dark about important matters relating to their children."
CBS News Detroit has reached out to Ann Arbor Public Schools for comment.
Earlier federal action
The matter of a transgender student participating in the Ann Arbor Public Schools sports department came to public attention in late 2025.
A parent of a Monroe student filed a Title IX complaint in December 2025 after a report that a transgender student from Ann Arbor participated in a girls volleyball match at Monroe High School.
The U.S. Department of Civil Rights then said in June 2026 that it was investigating three Michigan school districts, including Ann Arbor Public Schools, over the sports involvement of transgender students.
The investigation seeks to determine whether the named school public school districts violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by allowing students to participate in athletic teams and use locker rooms based on what the department calls "self-professed 'gender identities.'"
The education department says that Ann Arbor Public Schools "maintains policies allowing males to compete on women's sports teams," specifically, allowing a student who was assigned male at birth to compete on the female volleyball team.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has told CBS News Detroit that "One waiver for eligibility was granted under our transgender student policy for the 2025-26 fall sports season."
